


the summer of little league

by anakatieskywalker



Series: Olympics! AU [2]
Category: Batgirl (Comics), Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Olympics, Gen, Gymnast Stephanie Brown, Gymnastics, Summer Olympics, there's no demand for this but here i am anyway
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-21
Updated: 2020-07-21
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:15:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25429759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anakatieskywalker/pseuds/anakatieskywalker
Summary: Arthur Brown thinks he knows what's best for his daughter when he comes home from a stint in prison.... Stephanie has other ideas.AKA: Arthur decides to sign Steph up for little league and Steph is Pissed.
Relationships: Arthur Brown & Stephanie Brown, Crystal Brown & Stephanie Brown, Stephanie Brown & Bruce Wayne, Stephanie and her parents
Series: Olympics! AU [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1841788
Comments: 3
Kudos: 61





	the summer of little league

Stephanie Brown was almost seven years old when her father, Arthur Brown, came home from his latest stint in prison and decided that he wanted to be a little league dad. He was convinced that Steph would love playing ball, and signed her up without consulting the six year old.

When Steph did find out that her father signed her up to play baseball, her response was mostly one of confusion. She’d been doing gymnastics for three years at that point, and Steph was pretty sure she never told her mom that she wanted to do anything else. 

She managed to pout for a couple of days before Crystal pulled her aside and told her to just do this for her father. 

So Steph played little league. It wasn’t terrible, her teammates were nice, and she was okay at batting. Plus, Arthur went to her games and practices. He wasn’t always paying attention, but this was probably the most amount of time Steph had spent with her dad in her life.

The one thing no one had prepared her for was that being stuck in the outfield during an actual game, well, it sucked. Nothing happened out there, the sun was beating down on her, and all Stephanie really wanted was to be at the gym. She missed listening to Miss Selina’s funny little stories as they stretched out, or seeing Dick go flying through the air. 

Steph still saw Jason and Mr. Bruce, because the other boy was at the park for his own little league games, but it wasn’t the same. Not really. Mr. Bruce had a way of lighting up when he watched her or one of the other kids get excited about completing a new stunt at the gym. Based on the way his brow furrowed when he saw Steph standing in the outfield, counting down the seconds until the end of the game, told her that at the very least one adult saw that she wasn’t having fun. 

She suffered through three games in the outfield, kicking grass and making faces at the other outfielders before a lightbulb went off. Her mom had said that Arthur really wanted to spend time out at the fields with her. But, there were no rules saying that Steph couldn’t practice her gymnastics while her dad got to socialize during the little league games.

For the rest of the season, Stephanie spent her time in the outfield perfecting her walkovers and back handspring. She was getting really good at them too, and it made the games go by faster. 

Arthur didn’t really notice until the end of the season, when the coach suggested that maybe Steph should focus on other activities besides baseball. He’d been angry, at the revelation that Steph hadn’t enjoyed her time out on the baseball field.

It was one of those nights where Crystal had kissed her on the head, and sent her to her room as soon as dinner was over. Steph tried to pretend that she didn’t hear the lock turn in the door, or the loud argument between her mother and father before Arthur stormed out of the apartment and down to his favorite haunts.

It didn’t really matter though, because Arthur’s mandatory sporting season was over, and Crystal started taking her back to the gym. 

By the time the next baseball season rolled around, Arthur was out of her life once more, and back into the state prison system. Steph would never admit this to her mother, but she was glad when Arthur went away again. Crystal at least let Stephanie pick the sports she liked, and Steph  _ really _ liked going to gymnastics competitions.

**Author's Note:**

> it's not long, but i think it gets across the point that Arthur and Steph do NOT see eye to eye, and that Steph knows what her one true love is, and it's not little league.  
> Also i totally said there would be a delay in me posting this one but thats not happening so here we are.
> 
> Leave a comment and let me know what you think!!


End file.
